Whitney played point on pp 1st. they had 2- 5 on 3's and did nothing. Frazee was good last night. both Admirals goals came in the 1st, identical. point shot, rebound Marron slams it home. Absolutely horrible officiating last night. Larrson didn't look especially good. JJ didn't play, or he played maybe on shift. He practiced with everyone in the AM. I thought Urbom was pretty darn good. Mcpherson used on primarily on PK, which was a lot last night. W/ the exception of Leach, we have no "snarl" back there on the blue line.

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"Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option" - M.A.

Soiled a great game by Kinkaid . They played well overall throughout the game. However after Butler's goal, which was great (in lots of traffic-composed), they dumped and chased (changed lines constantly) and spent last 3-4 minutes entirely in d-zone. Emerson Etem got the goal, and the OT goal as well. He went coast to coast, and blew by whoever the d-man was (I think McPherson-who had a very good game btw))

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"Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option" - M.A.

Took my family for a 2 hour drive from Richmond to catch Saturday Night's game at Scope. I was really impressed with Kinkaid until late in the game when he gave up the tying and game winner in OT. The defense was awesome most of the game until the collapse at the end. There were a few dozen Devils fan in attendance scattered throughout the Arena. The Admirals fans were cordial to us and a few even remembered me from the old Hampton Roads Admirals vs. Richmond Renegades rivalry from the 90's. The game ,however, only slightly eased my NHL withdrawals. Its going to be a long, dreary Spring in the lockout doesn't end by Super Bowl !

Thinking about the Devils depth chart - the D signed for next year at the NHL level are:

Volchenkov
Tallinder
Greene
Fayne
Larsson

UFAs:

Harrold
Zidlicky

D for next year otherwise:

Urbom
Gelinas
Burlon
Scarlett
Hraberenka (I think he'll get an ELC)
Helgeson? (I don't think he'll get a contract)
McPherson? (I'm not sure he will get an NHL contract, but he's managed 25 games this year)
Merrill? (I don't really see why he would stay for a 4th year in college)
Gedig? (He could leave after 3 years)

with UFA:

Leach (I don't think he will be re-signed)

RFA:

Corrente (I think the Devils might finally say goodbye, his body just can't withstand north american pro hockey)
Kelly (hard to say what his future is)
Young (he'll be on an AHL contract if he comes back at all)

So the depth chart might look something like this in 2013-14, assuming no trades

Greene-Fayne
Tallinder-Larsson
Salvador-Urbom

X

Gelinas-Merrill
Burlon-Scarlett
AHL vet-Hraberenka

The year after that will bring Merrill, Gedig, and Severson into the fold for 'sure' ('sure' meaning I assume Merrill and Gedig will be signed by then) - depth chart then:

Anyway, this is all a long-winded way of saying that the Devils can afford to trade one of Merrill, Gelinas, or Urbom in addition to trading one of Tallinder, Greene, or Volchenkov. D prospects are far from being a sure thing, but if you collect enough of them you're bound to hit on a few. Furthermore, I think the D UFA market is much more easily beaten than the forward market - the Devils have Greene, Tallinder, and Volchenkov as UFAs they signed - Tallinder and Greene are bargains, Volchenkov is not, but that's a good ratio nonetheless.

Thinking about the Devils depth chart - the D signed for next year at the NHL level are:

VolchenkovTallinderGreeneFayneLarsson

UFAs:

HarroldZidlicky

D for next year otherwise:

UrbomGelinasBurlonScarlettHraberenka (I think he'll get an ELC)Helgeson? (I don't think he'll get a contract)McPherson? (I'm not sure he will get an NHL contract, but he's managed 25 games this year)Merrill? (I don't really see why he would stay for a 4th year in college)Gedig? (He could leave after 3 years)

with UFA:

Leach (I don't think he will be re-signed)

RFA:

Corrente (I think the Devils might finally say goodbye, his body just can't withstand north american pro hockey)Kelly (hard to say what his future is)Young (he'll be on an AHL contract if he comes back at all)

So the depth chart might look something like this in 2013-14, assuming no trades

Greene-FayneTallinder-LarssonSalvador-Urbom

X

Gelinas-MerrillBurlon-ScarlettAHL vet-Hraberenka

The year after that will bring Merrill, Gedig, and Severson into the fold for 'sure' ('sure' meaning I assume Merrill and Gedig will be signed by then) - depth chart then:

Greene-LarssonVolchenkov-?Salvador-Urbom (waiver eligible in 2014-15)

MerrillGelinas

Burlon?GedigScarlettSeversonHraberenka

Anyway, this is all a long-winded way of saying that the Devils can afford to trade one of Merrill, Gelinas, or Urbom in addition to trading one of Tallinder, Greene, or Volchenkov. D prospects are far from being a sure thing, but if you collect enough of them you're bound to hit on a few. Furthermore, I think the D UFA market is much more easily beaten than the forward market - the Devils have Greene, Tallinder, and Volchenkov as UFAs they signed - Tallinder and Greene are bargains, Volchenkov is not, but that's a good ratio nonetheless.

Good post.

I prefer to put the defensemen in tiers. This is of course excluding Harrold and Zidlicky.

UntouchableLarsson Fayne

UnmoveableSalvador- awful contractVolchenkov- awful contract + NTC

Trade BaitGreeneTallinder

Obviously I'd like to hang on to Tallinder and Greene, but I dont think its possible to keep both since we have some NHL ready prospects.

I'll tier the prospects just for the hell of it

Tier 1MerrillUrbomGelinasSeverson

Tier 2ScarlettBurlonMcPherson

I'll stop there as the rest virtually have zero value.

I dont think it makes sense to trade Merrill because his value is probably at its lowest after the suspension and recent injury. He also has the highest upside. That leaves Severson, Urbom and Gelinas. The more I think, the more I realize that it makes the most sense to trade Urbom. He's probably the most NHL ready and I think Larsson has made him redundant.

Now the question is, what could a package of Tallinder/Greene + Urbom fetch? First, lets see who is in need of defense.

For me, I'd move Severson down to tier 2 and take McPherson off my list completely.

Gelinas and Urbom's scoring are both in the crapper so far this season, without seeing the games I can't tell why, anyone with some insight?

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Your unconditional rejection of violence makes you smugly think of yourselves as noble, as enlightened, but in reality it is nothing less than abject moral capitulation to evil. Unconditional rejection of self-defense, because you think its a supposed surrender to violence, leaves you no resort but begging for mercy or offering appeasement.

-Terry Goodkind

Sex Panther cologne -- 50 percent of the time, it works every time.

-Anchorman

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

I know Severson was just picked in the past drafft, but he has a chance to be as good as any of those guys. Look at his stats for Kelowna. Keep in mind he is matched against the toughs

I don't think it's any bad thing to be on a tier with Burlon and Scarlett. Burlon is older and has less upside but is doing not bad at the AHL level and Scarlett is also putting up good numbers while being leaned on by his team.

I'm looking at tier 1 and seeing guys who were high picks and talented guys who have looked good against tougher competition and who are further along in development/age. I'm looking at tier 2 as guys with lesser upside or who also have awhile to go on the development curve to see what they're really made of.

0

Your unconditional rejection of violence makes you smugly think of yourselves as noble, as enlightened, but in reality it is nothing less than abject moral capitulation to evil. Unconditional rejection of self-defense, because you think its a supposed surrender to violence, leaves you no resort but begging for mercy or offering appeasement.

-Terry Goodkind

Sex Panther cologne -- 50 percent of the time, it works every time.

-Anchorman

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

I don't think it's any bad thing to be on a tier with Burlon and Scarlett. Burlon is older and has less upside but is doing not bad at the AHL level and Scarlett is also putting up good numbers while being leaned on by his team.

I'm looking at tier 1 and seeing guys who were high picks and talented guys who have looked good against tougher competition and who are further along in development/age. I'm looking at tier 2 as guys with lesser upside or who also have awhile to go on the development curve to see what they're really made of.

That's fair. I guess I'm focusing more on potential while you're looking at the present.

I don't think it's any bad thing to be on a tier with Burlon and Scarlett. Burlon is older and has less upside but is doing not bad at the AHL level and Scarlett is also putting up good numbers while being leaned on by his team.

I'm looking at tier 1 and seeing guys who were high picks and talented guys who have looked good against tougher competition and who are further along in development/age. I'm looking at tier 2 as guys with lesser upside or who also have awhile to go on the development curve to see what they're really made of.

I mean, I'm not a fan of sticking guys into tiers, but boy does Severson look like a guy who's going to be a fine pro defender. He won't be ready for several years, but at least in the one game I saw him, he looked like a guy who would at least kick around the league for a while.

Re: Gelinas and Urbom not getting points - Gelinas is getting his shots (27 in 11 games) - it's hard not to generate points off that kind of production, whether by deflections/rebounds or goals. Urbom, AFAIK, is not being used on the power play this year, I think he has been in years previous. In his rookie season his shots per game were close to 1.5 per game but he's settled into the 1 shot/game area.

Mantzas: The trouble is, Urbom doesn't have much value. Offensively he's nothing. Defensively, it's an open question - in 5 years he could be back playing in Sweden, a back-pairing/fringe defender, a guy facing average competition, or even a top pairing defender. None of these outcomes would particularly surprise me (top pairing defender would), but you just don't see Urbom types get traded that often.

If Severson can improve his shot awareness and accuracy there is no reason why he can't put up 30+ points in the NHL, even with 2nd PP minutes. What he is doing recently while playing against top competition and DZone minutes is very impressive.

Yikes, that is horrendous up front. In terms of D, I wonder if McPherson will continue to be a regular. I haven't been able to follow Albany closely this year but over at In Lou We Trust in their recent Albany recap, Jerry points out that he has been improving steadlily and playing in the majority of games now.

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RIP Pat Burns -- RIP Alexander Vasyunov and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Winner of the 2008 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster
Co-Winner of the 2011 Scott Bertoli Award for Best Minor League Poster, Winner of the 2012 Scott Bertoli Award